Editing Federation Starships (section)

==[[image:concl.jpg |150px|right|]]  [[Constitution Class:]]==

In 2269, the USS Enterprise was selected to be the first ship to undergo such a refit and went into spacedock in Earth orbit for eighteen months of work. Never in Starfleet history (up until that time) had any vessel been so comprehensively updated, essentially a new vessel was built onto the bones of the old, replacing virtually every major system. The Enterprise was rushed out of Spacedock in 2271 to face the threat presented by the entity known as V'Ger, which was destroying everything in its path as it advanced towards Earth. She succeeded in averting the danger and then proceeded with her shakedown cruise. 

Once the Enterprise was through with her shakedown cruise, the remaining Constitutions where refitted in quick succession and the Miranda and Akula class ships in service were readied for similar refits. The new ships proved to be more than capable of carrying out their normal exploratory and scientific roles, while in the combat arena they where judged an easy match for the refit Klingon K'T'Inga class. 

The Constitutions continued in service, and once again the Enterprise set the standard for the rest of the ships to follow. After her shakedown the ship conducted another five year exploratory mission under Admiral Kirk before being transferred to training duties in 2277 under Captain Spock. She continued in this role for a further eight years, and many of Starfleet’s most successful officers went into space for the first time aboard this ship. 

In 2285 the Enterprise suffered heavy battle damage while preventing Khan from stealing the Genesis Device, the ship was to be retired at this point, but Kirk and his officers stole her and took her to Genesis to retrieve Captain Spock's regenerated body from the planet. The Enterprise was attacked and crippled by a Klingon Bird of Prey while at Genesis, and was subsequently destroyed by Admiral Kirk shortly after the Klingon crew boarded to take control. 

The USS Yorktown, NCC-1717, was subsequently renamed as the second Starship Enterprise, NCC-1701-A, and assigned to the Captain Kirk. The Yorktown had recently emerged from a major refit and repair following it's encounter with 'the whale probe', and the ship suffered many technical problems, nevertheless, she went on to serve the remainder of her service life with distinction. 

In it’s most notable mission the Enterprise-A and the USS Excelsior participated in at the Khitomer conference, as the Enterprise escorted the Klingon Chancellor to the first meeting, assassins beamed over to the Klingon ship and killed the chancellor. Kirk and his chief medical officer where arrested and convicted of this crime, and sentenced to life imprisonment on the penal asteroid of Rura Pente; Kirk promptly escaped and took the Enterprise to the conference at Khitomer, preventing another assassination attempt and saving the peace process. 

The Enterprise-A went into retirement shortly after this mission, and she's now a part of the Starfleet Museum. Most of the remaining Constitutions where decommissioned over the following twenty years, as the Excelsior class starships became available in larger numbers. The ten that remained in service received refits to their systems several times over the years to keep pace with current technology. 

Two of the class were lost fighting the Borg, one at Wolf 359 and the other in Sector 001 a few years later. In 2335, four of the remaining eight Constitutions’ were mothballed while a second major refit of the class was designed. Of the other four, they were all active at the beginning of the Dominion war. Two are still in operation, including the class leader, the USS Constitution.